Likable, intelligent, Scottish pop-rockers Franz Ferdinand has done a huge disservice to English-speaking Buddhists. It's hard enough to quiet the mind in meditation and not engage in imaginary conversations or recite lyrics you've memorized somewhere along the line, but now Franz Ferdinand has made it even more difficult.
They've taken words from the Buddha's Eight-Fold Path and turned them into a catchy and melodic song that I'll never be able to get out of my head while trying to sit. Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action are three parts of the Eight-Fold Path (Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Meditation) enumerated in the Buddha's very first sermon. Virtually all Buddhists know them, and now, all English-speaking Buddhists, or at least all English-speaking Buddhists hip enough to have heard this terrific song, will have this stuck in their heads even while they're trying to empty their heads.
And I had just finally been able to stop singing Steely Dan's Bodhisattva to myself during meditation.
But now you've heard the Franz Ferdinand song, too (if you haven't before), and now it's stuck in your head as well. Because I posted it.
So much for my karma.
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